Chapter 10
I hadn’t been able to get Sloan out of my head.
The sadness in her eyes fucked with me the whole time we were together, and I tried to forget about it but couldn’t.
I couldn’t be too sure, but I had a feeling it was her husband who caused her sadness.
I was serious when I told her that I was coming hard behind her if I had the chance.
I still had to get to know her as an adult, but I wasn’t going to let her get away again.
Things wouldn’t be easy since she was married and had kids, but I would show her I was good for her.
My past might have said otherwise, and hell, even my life right now, but I knew I could change for the right woman.
Sloan was that person. It was evident that not a lot about her had changed.
I wish we could have spent more time together, but her head wasn’t in it.
I had an away game, so I went to the hospital to see my grandfather before I left.
I hoped to run into Sloan as well. Hopefully, she will be in a better mood.
I didn’t wish bad on her marriage, but at the same time, I wouldn’t be mad if she left him.
If she did, I would be whatever she needed me to be.
I looked for Sloan as I walked to my grandfather’s room but didn’t see her. I could have asked one of the nurses but decided against it. I didn’t have too much time anyway. Once I saw my grandfather was okay, I would go home to get ready for the away game.
“Hey, Grandpop,” I greeted my grandfather when I walked into his room.
He sat up in bed, watching an old Western movie.
I didn’t even know the hospital had that channel.
If he wasn’t watching the news, he watched old westerns.
I watched them with him sometimes, but I wasn’t that interested in them.
I only watched because it gave us an opportunity to bond over something other than basketball.
“Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you had an away game.”
“I do, but I had to come lay eyes on you first.” I walked over to the chair near his bed and sat down.
I could tell my mother had been there because he had pajamas on, and there were fresh flowers on the bedside table.
My mother always brought us flowers, even if we didn’t want them.
It was her thing, so neither of us said anything.
She came to my house once a week with new flowers.
I couldn’t care less, but I wasn’t going to fight with her.
“Sure. As you can see, Sloan ain’t here. She did come by earlier, though.” He smirked.
“I wasn’t looking for her, but what did she say?”
Grandpop chuckled and lowered the volume on the television.
“She came to check on me and gave me some information about the agency she uses. She said they are working on two to three specific nurses for me.”
“That’s good. Has the doctor mentioned when you’ll be getting out of here?”
“Yeah, she said I can leave in a few days as long as everything is set up. She did mention something about going to rehab for a week or two, but it’s not definite.”
There was a knock at the door, and I got a little excited that it could be Sloan. When a nurse peeked in, I was disappointed.
“Mr. Cooper, I just came to check on you.” The nurse walked further into the room.
She kept looking at me, but I didn’t pay her any mind.
I felt like she only came in here because she knew I was here.
I spotted her at the nurse’s station, staring at me when I walked past. She was cute, but I wasn’t interested.
I didn’t know what would happen with Sloan and me, but I damn sure wasn’t going to fuck with anyone that worked in the same place as her.
That would fuck things up before I got a chance to shoot my shot.
“Thanks. I’m doing good. Just visiting with my grandson before he has to leave.”
The nurse looked in my direction, and it seemed to catch her off guard that I was there. I lowered my head and chuckled.
“Oh, sorry. Hi.”
I nodded my head and said, “What’s good?”
She blushed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you need anything, Mr. Cooper… either of you.” She looked me dead in the eyes, but I just nodded my head.
Grandpop and I watched her walk out of the room, and the minute the door closed, we both cracked up.
“Boy, she was close to sitting in your lap, ain’t it?”
“I wasn’t paying her any mind.”
“Oh, I know. Too busy checking for a married Sloan.”
He made sure to remind me that Sloan was married as if I didn’t already know.
Hell, I was reminded of the whole time at lunch because the ring was in my face.
It was nice, too. He made sure people would see it whenever they looked at her.
To me, it didn’t seem like it was her type, but what did I know?
“I’m just reconnecting with an old friend,” I insisted as I stroked my beard.
“I know you, but I’ll let you do whatever you are going to do. I’ll say this, though. Don’t fumble that shit again if you get the chance.”
“Trust me, I won’t.”
I stayed at the hospital another hour, chopping it up with my grandfather.
Sloan never came by again, but I told my grandfather to give her my number whenever she came to check on him again.
I had some questions about the home health aide.
At least, that’s what I told him to tell her.
He and I both knew I was full of shit. I wanted to make sure she was good.
I had her card, but I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries… yet.
“Oh no! Coop missed another three.”
“I don’t know what’s going on with him tonight, Jim, but he’d better get his head in the game.”
The crowd booed when I missed the third three-point attempt I made for the night. It was a good thing I couldn’t hear the announcers because I knew they were talking shit.
“Come on, Coop!” Julian yelled when he came up behind me.
I ran down the court and watched as one of my teammates scored. We were down by eight points, but it was only the first half, so we had time to come back.
The whistle blew, and my coach called me over to the bench.
“I think you need to sit the rest of the half out.”
I glanced at the clock, and it was only three minutes left in the second quarter. I grabbed some water and sat down. I watched Julian and the rest of the guys try to come back. It wasn’t enough time, but instead of trailing by eight, we were trailing by four.
My mind wasn’t in the game. It was on Sloan. I worried about her and wondered what she was doing. I thought she might have called, but she hadn’t.
As soon as the buzzer sounded, I got up and headed to the locker room.
“Coop!” Coach yelled as soon as he entered the locker room. “What the hell is going on with you?”
“Nothing. I’m good, Coach.”
“You aren’t, but whatever it is, you’d better get your shit together this second half.”
“I got you, Coach.”
It’s crazy how much Sloan occupied my thoughts already. I needed to shake that shit off, so we could win this game. Coach walked away to talk to someone else. I sat down on the bench in front of my temporary locker.
“Aye, you good? The fuck going on?” Julian asked as he sat next to me.
“I’m cool.”
He looked at me like he didn’t believe me, but I assured him I was good. By the time halftime was over, I was ready to play and win the game.
“Warriors on three!” Coach shouted as we huddled around him.
“One. Two. Three. Warriors!”
We left the locker room and got right into action.
In the second half, we were on fire. Each time I got the ball, I shot a three and made it in.
We ended up winning by ten. The other team was good, and they made us work for it, but we got it done.
I wouldn’t have heard the end of it if we had lost. Our losing during the first half wasn’t all on me, but I played a major part, and I didn’t want to let my team down.
“That was a close one, but we came out on top,” Julian commented as he sat next to me on the bus back to the hotel. “You ready to tell me what was on your mind?”
I looked over at him. “Nah. It’s nothing.”
He sucked his teeth. “It’s something. How’s Grandpop?”
“He’s good.”
“Okay. So, it ain’t that. It’s something, but I’ll leave you alone. You’ll tell me when you are ready.”
Julian put on his hood and leaned his head back on the seat. I would tell him at some point, but for the moment, there was nothing to tell.
I checked my phone and didn’t have any missed calls or texts from Sloan, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.
I sent her a text to the number on the card, put my phone in my pocket, and closed my eyes until we got to the hotel.
There were bound to be multiple groupies out there, so maybe I could take one to my room to help me forget about Sloan for the moment.